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Who was James Allen? Although his book, As A Man Thinketh, has inspired millionsaround the world and is partly responsible for launching an entireself-improvement industry, very little is known about its author, James Allen. He was born in Leicester, England in 1864 and worked as a personal secretary for an executive of a large English corporation until 1902. At the age of 38 he “retired” to writing and moved with his wife to a small cottage at Ilfracombe, England. He penned more than 20 works before suddenly passing away at the age of 48. As A Man Thinketh has influenced many contemporary writersincluding Norman Vincent Peale, Earl Nightingale, Denis Waitleyand Tony Robbins, among others. His “little volume”, as he called it, has been translated into fivemajor languages, inspiring millions of readers to recognize thatman’s visions can become reality, simply through the power ofthought. Click here to see more works by James Allen 3

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Forward This little volume (the result of meditation and experience) isnot intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-uponsubject of the power of thought. It is suggestive rather thanexplanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to thediscovery and perception of the truth that "They themselves aremakers of themselves" by virtue of the thoughts which they chooseand encourage; that mind is the master weaver, both of the innergarment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, andthat, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain theymay now weave in enlightenment and happiness. James Allen Ilfracombe, England 4

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I Thought And Character “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," not only embracesthe whole of a mans being, but is so comprehensive as to reach outto every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literallywhat he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all histhoughts. As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed,so every act of man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, andcould not have appeared without them. This applies equally tothose acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to thosewhich are deliberately executed. Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are itsfruit; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of hisown husbandry. Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are by thought was wrought and built. If a mans mind hath evil thought, pain comes on him as comes the wheel the ox behind. If one endure in purity of thought, Joy follows him as his own shadow - sure. Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, andcause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the hiddenrealm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. Anoble and God-like character is not a thing of favor or chance, butis the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effectof long-cherished association with God-like thoughts. An ignobleand bestial character, by the same process, is the result of thecontinued harboring of groveling thoughts. 5

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Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thoughthe forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He alsofashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenlymansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice andtrue application of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection.By the abuse and wrong application of thought he descends belowthe level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the gradesof character, and man is their maker and master. Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which havebeen restored and brought to light in this age, none is moregladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this--that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and themaker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of hisown thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and containswithin himself that transforming and regenerative agency by whichhe may make himself what he wills. Man is always the master, even in his weakest and mostabandoned state. But in his weakness and degradation he is foolishmaster who misgoverns his "household." When he begins to reflectupon his condition and search diligently for the law upon which hisbeing is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing hisenergies with intelligence and fashioning his thoughts to fruitfulissues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thusbecome by discovering within himself the laws of thought. Thisdiscovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis andexperience. Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamondsobtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being, ifhe will dig deep into the mine of his soul. That he is the maker ofhis character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny,he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter histhoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others and uponhis life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patientpractice and investigation. And utilizing his every experience, eventhe most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining thatknowledge of himself which is understanding, wisdom, power. Inthis direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He thatseeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” For 6

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only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a manenter the door of the temple of knowledge. 7

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II Effect Of Thought On Circumstances A mans mind may be likened to a garden, which may beintelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whethercultivated or neglected, it must, and will bring forth. If no usefulseeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds willfall therein, and will continue to produce their kind. Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free fromweeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires so maya man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong,useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection theflowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts. By pursuingthis process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, withinhimself, the flaws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind elementsoperate in the shaping of character, circumstances, and destiny. Thought and character are one, and as character can onlymanifest and discover itself through environment andcircumstance, the outer conditions of a persons life will always befound to be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does notmean that a mans circumstances at any given time are anindication of his entire character, but that those circumstances areso intimately connected with some vital thought-element withinhimself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to hisdevelopment. Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughtswhich he has built into his character have brought him there, andin the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but allis the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of thosewho feel "out of harmony" with their surroundings as of those whoare contented with them. 8

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As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that hemay learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lessonwhich any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and givesplace to other circumstances. Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believeshimself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when herealizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command thehidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow;he then becomes the rightful master of himself. That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows whohas for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in hiscircumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mentalcondition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himselfto remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and markedprogress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes. The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors, that which itloves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of itscherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires,and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives it own. Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, andto take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later intoact, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit. The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the innerworld of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant externalconditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of theindividual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both ofsuffering and bliss. Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by whichhe allows himself to be dominated (pursuing the will-o-the wisps ofimpure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong andhigh endeavor), a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfillmentin the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtain. A mandoes not come to the alms-house or the jail by the tyranny of fate orcircumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and basedesires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime bystress of any mere external force. The criminal thought had long 9

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been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunityrevealed its gathered power. Circumstance does not make the man;it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist asdescending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from viciousinclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happinesswithout the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations; and man,therefore, as the lord and master of thought, is the maker of himselfand the shaper of and author of environment. Even at birth the soulcomes of its own and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage itattracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, whichare the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strength andweakness. Men do not attract that which they want, but that which theyare. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step,but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food,be it foul or clean. Man is manacled only by himself; thought andaction are the jailors of Fate--they imprison, being base; they arealso the angels of Freedom--they liberate, being noble. Not what he wished and prays for does a man get, but what hejustly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified andanswered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions. In the light of this truth what, then, is the meaning of "fightingagainst circumstances?” It means that a man is continuallyrevolting against an effect without, while all the time he isnourishing and preserving its cause in his heart. That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or anunconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it stubbornly retards theefforts of it possessor, and thus calls aloud for remedy. Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but areunwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. Theman who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail toaccomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is as true ofearthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is toacquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrificesbefore he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he whowould realize a strong and well-poised life? Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxiousthat his surroundings and home comforts should improve, yet allthe time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in tryingto deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his 10

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wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments ofthose principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and is notonly totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is actuallyattracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in, andacting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts. Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistentdisease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums ofmoney to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonousdesires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural foodsand have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to havehealth, because he has not yet learned the first principles of ahealthy life. Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures toavoid paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making largerprofits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man isaltogether unfitted for prosperity. And when he finds himselfbankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blamescircumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of hiscondition. I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative ofthe truth that man is the causer (though nearly alwaysunconsciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at thegood end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment byencouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonizewith that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almostindefinitely, but this is not necessary. The reader can, if he soresolves, trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mindand life, and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve asa ground of reasoning. Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is sodeeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly withindividuals, that a mans entire soul condition (although it may beknown to himself) cannot be judged by another from the externalaspect of his life alone. A man may be honest in certain directions, yet sufferprivations. A man may be dishonest in certain directions, yetacquire wealth. But the conclusion usually formed that the oneman fails because of his particular honesty, and that the otherprospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of asuperficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is 11

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almost totally corrupt, and honest man almost entirely virtuous. Inthe light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, suchjudgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may havesome admirable virtues which the other does not possess; and thehonest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. Thehonest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts;he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce.The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering andhappiness. It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffersbecause of ones virtue; but not until a man has extirpated everysickly, bitter, and impure thought from his soul, can he be in aposition to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of hisgood, and not of his bad qualities; and on the way to, yet longbefore he has reached that supreme perfection , he will have found,working in his mind and life, the great law which is absolutely just,and which cannot, therefore, give good for evil, evil for good.Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back uponhis past ignorance and blindness, that his life is, and always was,justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad,were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self. Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; badthoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is butsaying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing fromnettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world,and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moralworld (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating),and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it. Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in somedirection. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmonywith himself, with the law of his being. The sole and supreme use ofsuffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure.Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be no object inburning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pureand enlightened being could not suffer. The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering arethe result of his own mental inharmony. The circumstances which aman encounters with blessedness are the result of his own mentalharmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure ofright thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the 12

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measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he maybe blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joinedtogether when the riches are rightly and wisely used. And the poorman only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as aburden unjustly imposed. Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes ofwretchedness. They are both equally unnatural and the result ofmental disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is ahappy, healthy, and prosperous being; and happiness, health, andprosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the innerwith the outer of the man with his surroundings. A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine andrevile, and commences to search for the hidden justice whichregulates his life. And he adapts his mind to that regulating factor,he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and buildshimself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick againstcircumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapidprogress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers andpossibilities within himself. Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe;justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life.Righteousness, not corruption, is the molding and moving force inthe spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but toright himself to find that the universe is right. And during theprocess of putting himself right, he will find that as he alters histhoughts towards things and other people, things and other peoplewill alter towards him. The proof of this truth is in every person, and it thereforeadmits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will beastonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the materialconditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret,but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifiesinto circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize into habits ofdrunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances ofdestitution and disease. Impure thoughts of every kind crystallizeinto enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distractingand adverse circumstances. Thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecisioncrystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidifyinto circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence. 13

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Lazy thoughts crystallize into weak, habits of uncleanliness anddishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness andbeggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habitsof accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances ofinjury and persecution. Selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize intohabits of self-seeking, which solidify into distressful circumstances. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallizeinto habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial andsunny circumstances. Pure thoughts crystallize into habits oftemperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances ofrepose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decisioncrystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances ofsuccess, plenty, and freedom. Energetic thoughts crystallize intohabits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify intocircumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving thoughtscrystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protectiveand preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish thoughtswhich solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperityand true riches. A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad,cannot fail to produce its results on the character andcircumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances,but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shapehis circumstances. Nature helps every man to gratification of the thoughts whichhe most encourages, and opportunities are presented which willmost speedily bring to the surface both the good and the evilthoughts. Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world willsoften towards him, and be ready to help him. Let him put away hisweakly and sickly thoughts, and the opportunities will spring up onevery hand to aid his strong resolves. Let him encourage goodthoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchednessand shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varyingcombinations of colors which at every succeeding moment itpresents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts. You will be what you will to be; 14

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Let failure find its false content In that poor word, “environment,” But spirit scorns it, and is free. It masters time, it conquers space;It cows that boastful trickster, Chance, And bids the tyrant Circumstance Uncrown, and fill a servants place. The human Will, that force unseen, The offspring of deathless Soul, Can hew a way to any goal, Though walls of granite intervene. Be not impatient in delay, But wait as one who understands; When spirit rises and commands, The gods are ready to obey. 15

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III Effects Of Thoughts On Health And Body The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations ofthe mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automaticallyexpressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinksrapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad andbeautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness andbeauty. Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body.Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as abullet and they are continually killing thousands of people just assurely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease arethe people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body,and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts,even if not physically indulged, will sooner shatter the nervoussystem. Strong pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigorand grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, whichresponds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, andhabits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, uponit. Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood, so longas they propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes aclean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiledlife and a corrupt body. Thought is the fount of action, life andmanifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure. Change of diet will not help a man who will not change histhoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longerdesires impure food. 16

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Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint whodoes not wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthenedand purified his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent. If you would perfect your body, guard your mind. If you wouldrenew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, anddisappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts.Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, pride. I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocentface of a girl. I know a man well under middle age whose face isdrawn into in harmonious contours. The one is the result of a sweetand sunny disposition; the other is the outcome of passion anddiscontent. As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless youadmit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong bodyand a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result fromthe free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and goodwilland serenity. On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathyothers by strong and pure thought, and others are carved bypassion; who cannot distinguish them? With those who have livedrighteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like thesetting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on his death-bed. Hewas not old except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as hehad lived. There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating theills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill fordispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually inthoughts of ill-will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confinedin a self-made prison hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerfulwith all, to patiently learn to find the good in all--such unselfishthoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day inthoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peaceto their possessor. 17

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IV Thought And Purpose Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligentaccomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to"drift" upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and suchdrifting must not continue for him who would steer clear ofcatastrophe and destruction. They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy preyto petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which areindications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberatelyplanned sins (though by a diff route), to failure, unhappyness, andloss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe. A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart,and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose thecentralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritualideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at thetime being. Whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought-forces upon the object he had set before him. He should make thispurpose his supreme duty and should devote himself to itsattainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away intoephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal roadto self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he failsagain and again to accomplish his purpose--as he must untilweakness is overcome--the strength of character gained will be themeasure of his true success, and this will form a new starting pointfor future power and triumph. Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a greatpurpose, should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance oftheir duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Onlyin this way can the thoughts be gathered and focused, and 18

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resolution and energy be developed. Once this is done, there isnothing which may not be accomplished. The weakest soul knowing its own weakness, and believingthis truth--that strength can only be developed by effort andpractice--will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself. And,adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength tostrength, will never cease to develop and will at last grow divinelystrong. As the physically weak man can make himself strong bycareful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can makethem strong by exercising himself in right thinking. To put away aimlessness and weakness and to begin to thinkwith purpose is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who onlyrecognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment. Who makeall conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attemptfearlessly, and accomplish masterfully. Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally markout a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to theright nor left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded. Theyare disintegrating elements which break up the straight line ofeffort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of doubtand fear can never accomplish anything. They always lead tofailure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts ceasewhen doubt and fear creep in. The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he whoencourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at everystep. He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.His every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties arebravely met and overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted,and they bloom and bring forth fruit that does not fall prematurelyto the ground. Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force. Hewho knows this is ready to become something higher and strongerthan a bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations. Hewho does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder ofhis mental powers. 19

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V The Thought-Factor In Achievement All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is thedirect result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe,where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individualresponsibility must be absolute. A mans weakness and strength,purity and impurity, are his own and not another mans. They arebrought about by himself and not by another; and they can only bealtered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own,and not another mans. His sufferings and his happiness areevolved from within. As he thinks, so is he; as he continues tothink, so he remains. A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker iswilling to be helped. And even then the weak man must becomestrong of himself. He must, by his own efforts, develop the strengthwhich he admires in another. None but himself can alter hiscondition. It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men areslaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor!" Butthere is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse thisjudgment and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many areslaves; let us despise the slaves." The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators inignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality,afflicting themselves. A perfect knowledge perceives the action oflaw in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power ofthe oppressor. A perfect love, seeing the suffering which both statesentail, condemns neither; a perfect compassion embraces bothoppressor and oppressed. He who has conquered weakness and 20

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has pushed away all selfish thoughts belongs neither to oppressornor oppressed. He is free. A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up histhoughts. He can only remain weak, abject, and miserably byrefusing to lift up his thoughts. Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, hemust lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not,in order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness,necessarily, but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A manwhose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearlynor plan methodically. He could not find and develop his latentresources and would fail in any undertaking. Not having begun tomanfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position to controlaffairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to actindependently and stand alone. But he is limited only by thethoughts that he chooses. There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice,and a mans worldly success will be by the measure that hesacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on thedevelopment of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolutionand self-reliance. The higher he lifts his thoughts, the greater willbe his success, the more blessed and enduring will be hisachievements. The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, thevicious, although on the mere surface it sometimes may appear todo so. It helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All thegreat teachers of the ages have declared this in varying ways, and toprove it and to know it a man has but to persist in making himselfincreasingly virtuous by lifting his thoughts. Intellectual achievements are the result of thoughtconsecrated to the search for knowledge or for the beautiful andtrue in nature. Such achievements may sometimes be connectedwith vanity and ambition, but they are not the outcome of thosecharacteristics. They are the natural outgrowth of long and arduouseffort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts. Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holyaspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble andlofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and selfless, will, assurely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, becomewise and noble in character and rise into a position of influence and 21

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blessedness. Achievement of any kind is the crown of effort, thediadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity,righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends. By the aidof animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion ofthought a man descends. A man may rise to high success in the world, even to loftyattitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weaknessand wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corruptthoughts to take possession of him. Victories attained by right thought can be maintained only bywatchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidlyfall back into failure. All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, orspiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought. Theyare governed by the same law, and are of the same method. Theonly difference lies in the object of attainment. He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he whowould achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attainhighly must sacrifice greatly. 22

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VI Visions And Ideals The dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible worldis sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials andsins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions oftheir solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; itcannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows themas the realities which it shall one day see and know. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage--these are themakers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world isbeautiful because they have lived. Without them, laboring humanitywould perish. He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart,will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of anotherworld and he discovered it. Copernicus fostered the vision of amultiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it.Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless beautyand perfect peace, and he entered into it. Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals. Cherish the musicthat stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, theloveliness that drapes your purest thoughts. For out of them willgrow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, ifyou but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Shall mansbasest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and hispurest aspirations starve for lack of sustenance? Such is not theLaw. Such a condition can never obtain, "Ask and receive." Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your idealis the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. 23

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The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream.The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg. And in thehighest vision of a soul a waking angle stirs. Dreams are theseedlings of realities. Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall notremain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. Youcannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hardpressed by poverty and labor. Confined long hours in an unhealthyworkshop; unschooled and lacking all the arts of refinement. But hedreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, or refinement, ofgrace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an idealcondition of life. The wider liberty and a larger scope takespossession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he uses all hisspare times and means to the development of his latent powers andresources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that theworkshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmonywith his mind-set that it falls out of his life as a garment is castaside. And with the growth of opportunities that fit the scope of hisexpanding powers, he passes out of it altogether. Years later we seethis youth as a grown man. We find him a master of certain forcesof the mind that he wields with worldwide influence and almostunequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of giganticresponsibilities; he speaks and lives are changed; men and womenhang upon his words and remold their characters. Sun-like, hebecomes the fixed and luminous center around which innumerabledestinies revolve. He has realized the vision of his youth. He has become onewith his ideal. And you, too, will realize the vision (not just the idle wish) ofyour heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both; for you willalways gravitate toward that which you secretly love most. Into yourhands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts. Youwill receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever yourpresent environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with yourthoughts--your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as yourcontrolling desire, as great as your dominant aspiration. The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing onlythe apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk ofluck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say,"How lucky he is!" Observing another become skilled intellectually, 24

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they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!" And noting the saintlycharacter and wide influence of another, they remark, "How chancehelps him at every turn!" They do not see the trials and failures andstruggles which these men have encountered in order to gain theirexperience. They have no knowledge of the sacrifices they havemade, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith theyhave exercised so that they might overcome the apparentlyinsurmountable and realize the vision of their heart. They do notknow the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light andjoy, and call it "luck." Do not see the long, arduous journey, butonly behold the pleasant goal and call it "good fortune." Do notunderstand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it"chance." In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results.The strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Change isnot. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessionsare the fruits of effort. They are thoughts completed, objectivesaccomplished, visions realized. The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that youenthrone in your heart -- this you will build your life by; this youwill become. 25

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VII SerenityCalmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is theresult of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is anindication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinaryknowledge of the laws and operations of thought. A man becomes calm in the measure that he understandshimself as a thought-evolved being. For such knowledgenecessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought,and as he develops a right understanding, and sees ever moreclearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause andeffect, he ceases to fuss, fume, worry, and grieve. He remainspoised, steadfast, serene. The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knowshow to adapt himself to others. And they, in turn reverence hisspiritual strength. They feel that they can learn from him and relyupon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is hissuccess, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary traderwill find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greaterself-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to dealwith a man whose demeanor is equitable. The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like ashade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balancedlife? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changescome to those who possess these blessings, for they are alwaysserene and calm. That exquisite poise of character that we callserenity is the last lesson of culture. It is the flowering of life, thefruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom--more desirable thanfine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks incomparison with a serene life. A life that dwells in the ocean of 26

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truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of the tempests, in theEternal Calm! How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin allthat is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy theirpoise of character and make bad blood! It is a question whether thegreat majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar theirhappiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in lifewho are well balanced, who have that exquisite poise which ischaracteristic of the finished character! Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, istumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety anddoubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlledand purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him. Tempest-tossed souls, wherever you may be, under whateverconditions you may live, know this: In the ocean of life the isles ofblessedness are smiling and the sunny shore of your ideal awaitsyour coming. Keep your hands firmly upon the helm of thought. Inthe core of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does butsleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery.Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, "Peace. Be still!"Develop a deeper understanding of the principles of As A ManThinketh. Begin your week with the wisdom of James Allen.Subscribe today to our weekly eMeditation. It’s Free.You cannot change your thoughts without changing your life in theprocess -- either for good or for bad. Immerse yourself in the rightthoughts and you will become the person you long to be, just assurely as the planting of an acorn yields an oak tree and not a pinetree.Plant your acorn now -- subscribe today -- its Free! 27

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